Poultry Science News Flash

Graduation Spring 2007

BS Degrees

Name Curriculum

City
Mark EdwardBramlett SPS Sanford, NC
Daniel Scott Gray TPS LaGrange, NC
Grant Daniel Hill SPS Kinston, NC
Laura Beatty Jennings SPS Warsaw, NC
Brittany Renee Miles SPS Washington, NC
Felica Dawn Riggs SPS Newport, NC
Melissa Carroll Spruill TPS Bunn Level, NC
Jason Kenneth Thornton SPS Goldsboro, NC
Allison Adele Vestal SPS Clemmons, NC
Sarah Christine Walters SPS Lexington, NC
Emily Iris Weston SPS Hillsborough, NC
Terry Douglas White TPS Akoskie, NC
Gail Diane Whitely SPS Franklin, VA

Graduate Degrees

Ph.D. (Nutrition and Poultry Science/Animal Science)
Peter Plumstead
"Strategies to Reduce Fecal Phosphorus Excretion in the Broiler Industry without Affecting Performance"
Major Professor: Dr. John Brake

Master of Nutrition (non-Thesis)
Rebecca Leigh Nanney
Major Professor: Drs. Peter Ferekt and Jon Allen

 

Address to the Graduates

Your achievement today is the result of hard work, sacrifice, and perseverance. Hours of study & research, long nights in the library, and pages of reports and essays have led you to this point in time. You are to be congratulated for your efforts. Thankfully you rejected those that tried to tell you that the easy path was the one to follow. If you have ever watch late night cable TV, you know that they are filled with infomercials which promise a slimmer waist line, wealth, whiter teeth, or clearer skin with little or no effort. On a weekly basis I get junk email promising a college degree without the investment of any "blood, sweat, or tears".
Here are some examples:
Honestly there are no prescribed tests, classes, books, or interviews! Inherit a Bachelors, Masters. MBA, and Doctorate (PhD) diploma. Be given the perks and support that comes with a diploma! Nobody is told. 100% Secrecy. Call Anytime Too lazy to attend exams or classes? We have Diplomas, Degrees, Masters' or Doctorate; choose from any field of your interest. Only 2 weeks require to deliver this prestigious non-accredited university paper to your doorstep. Do not hesitate to give us a call today!
Thankfully you chose NC State, a prestigious "accredited" university.

Today is in some ways a paradox. It is a time for beginnings and for endings. It is perhaps for this very reason that the song "Closing Time" has become a fixture at high school graduations. Recorded in the late 1990s, a time that seems so recent for your parents and myself, yet for you half a life time ago, the song laments the ever changing facets of our lives. You may recall some of the lyrics: Closing time - you don't have to go home but you can't stay here. That may be a line your good friend tells you if you over stay your welcome while waiting on your own apartment to open up. But more on topic is the final line: Closing time - every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.
Again, today is indeed an ending and a beginning.

Approximately a decade ago, Dr. Richard Carlson published a very popular book entitled "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff". Like Chicken Soup for the Soul, Don't Sweat…. spawned a series of books:
  • Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Teens,
  • Don't Sweat the Small Stuff at Work,
  • Don't Sweat the Small Stuff in Love,
  • Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Women,
  • Don't Sweat the Small Stuff Guide for Couples,
Well, you get the picture.
The basic premise of the DSTSS series is that we all get caught up in minutiae, "the small stuff," of life and may never get around to doing what makes us or the people around, us truly happy. Perhaps this is captured in the cliché of 'stop and smell the roses". While I agree with much of the DSTSS philosophy, I want to suggest to you that in many cases, it is the attention to detail, the little things in life, which will set you apart; at you job, in your community, and within your family. You may have heard the statement that a butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon rain forest leads eventually to a hurricane off the coast of Florida. That may be the stuff of myth, but let me give you an example of how a single seeming insignificant act can result in great change. I suspect many of you know about Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. He was a major force behind the opposition to Apartheid, the systematic and legally imposed racial segregation of that country. But I suspect you know nothing of Archbishop Trevor Huddleston. The son of a naval officer, Huddleston was born in 1913 in Bedford, England and was educated at Oxford and Wells Theological College. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1937. In 1943 Father Huddleston was sent to South Africa, where he served in the Anglican diocese of Johannesburg. Archbishop Tutu said: "If you could say that anybody single-handedly made apartheid a world issue then that person was Trevor Huddleston". Tutu was 8 when he first met Huddleston in a Johannesburg hostel for the blind where his mother worked. You have to remember the social and racial climate in South Africa at that time to fully appreciate the events that so profoundly influenced Desmond Tutu. He once wrote how he remembered in amazement when this tall white cleric in flowing cassock doffed his black hat to Mrs. Tutu - a courtesy rarely extended to blacks by whites in South Africa in the late 1930s. Tutu would later write how thankful he was "for this wonderful person who made us blacks realise that not all whites were the same." This simple gesture began a process that would change the life of Desmond Tutu and ultimately South Africa. One wonders if Apartheid would have changed in South Africa as quickly as it did had it not been for a mere tipping of a hat. So while I encourage you to not "Sweat the Small Stuff", I also want you to remember the little things as well. Never underestimate the power of the small, simple or seemingly insignificant.
Congratulations again.
We looking forward to learning of the amazing things you will accomplish in the years ahead.
Return to News Articles
 
Don't be a chicken! Contact us TODAY!